Hospitals can benchmark energy performance using the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA’s) Energy Star Portfolio Manager, a free tool that allows facilities to track and compare their energy usage , according to an article on the Health Facilities Management website.
Reducing energy use requires planning, persistence, ongoing benchmarking and staff buy-in — from the C-suite to maintenance and housekeeping personnel — according to Terry Scott, president of the American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE).
On a per building basis, hospitals use an average of 600,000 million British Thermal Units of energy per year, significantly more than any other building type.
As much as 30 percent of the energy consumed in hospitals is unnecessary, according to the EPA.
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